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The Pink Panther Show (1969-1980)
Overview The Pink Panther Show is a showcase of cartoon shorts produced by David H. DePatie and Friz Freleng between 1969 and 1979, starring the animated Pink Panther character from the opening credits of the live-action films. The series was produced by Mirisch Films and DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, and was broadcast on two American television networks: from September 6, 1969 — September 2, 1978, on NBC; and from September 9, 1978 — September 1, 1980, on ABC (as The All-New Pink Panther Show). When The Pink Panther Show first aired in 1969, it consisted of one cartoon featuring The Inspector, sandwiched by two Pink Panther entries. The 30-minute show was then connected via bumper sequences featuring both the panther and Inspector together, as well announcer Marvin Miller acting as an off-camera narrator talking to the panther. Bumper sequences consisted of newly animated segments as well as recycled footage from existing cartoons, such as Reel Pink, Pink Outs and Super Pink, with new incidental music and voice-over work from Miller. Pink Panther shorts made after 1969 (starting with A Fly in the Pink) when The Pink Panther Show began airing were produced for both broadcast and theatrical release, typically appearing on television first and released to theatres by United Artists.1 A number of new series were created, including the very popular The Ant and the Aardvark, Tijuana Toads (a.k.a. Texas Toads), Hoot Kloot, Misterjaw, Roland and Rattfink, The Dogfather and two Tijuana Toadsspinoffs: The Blue Racer and Crazylegs Crane. The New Pink Panther Show and later shows featured newly animated bumper segments involving the Panther, the Ant and the Aardvark, Misterjaw, and the Tijuana/Texas Toads. In 1976, the half-hour series was revamped into a 90-minute format, as It's the All New Pink Panther Laugh-and-a-Half Hour-and-a-Half Show Introducing Misterjaw; this version included a live-action segment, where comedian Lenny Schultz would read letters and jokes from viewers. This version did not do well and eventually reverted to the original 30-minute version in 1977 as Think Pink Panther. After nine years on NBC, the Pink Panther moved to ABC in 1978 and was retitled The All-New Pink Panther Show, where it lasted one season before leaving the network realm entirely. The ABC version of the series featured sixteen episodes with 32 new Pink Panther cartoons, and 16 featuring Crazylegs Crane: no bumpers were produced for The All-New Pink Panther Show, but 10–15 second "Stay tuned..." snippets explaining an upcoming entry were produced for the first few episodes. The 32 new Pink Panther cartoons were eventually released to theatres by United Artists. Henry Mancini composed "The Pink Panther Theme" for the live action films, which would be used prominently in the cartoon series as well. Doug Goodwin composed the show's opening title music while William Lava and Walter Greene composed music scores heard throughout the cartoons, many which were variations on Mancini's "Pink Panther Theme". By the time of the show's 1969 debut, fitting cartoon and children shows with a laugh track was standard practice (Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, The Archie Show, H.R. Pufnstuf). In keeping with this standard, NBC added a laugh track to thePink Panther and Inspector cartoons for inclusion in The Pink Panther Show, marking the first time theatrical films gained a laugh track for television broadcast.1 This was unusual, as other theatrical cartoon series' that were aired successfully on television (i.e. Tom and Jerry, Woody Woodpecker, Looney Tunes, Popeye) did not receive this addition. The resulting effect of having laugh-tracked and non-laugh tracked versions of the same cartoon meant that both would become available over the years. Later editions of the show would utilize both the theatrical (without laugh track) and television broadcast (with laugh track) versions, depending on which edition the television station would choose to air. Current incarnations of the show feature both. The U.S.-based Boomerang occasionally airs versions with the laugh track intact, though these versions are more commonly found outside of the U.S. The Spanish language Boomerang insists that MGM/UA supply them with laugh track-only versions of all shorts; if there is no laugh track, Boomerang will add their own (consisting of isolated laughter from 1960s-era sitcoms). The Portuguese language Boomerang, France-based Gulli, and Poland channels TV 4 and TV6 also broadcast certain entries utilizing laugh track versions. United Artists Television syndicated The Pink Panther Show in 1980, complete with bumpers and laugh-tracked versions of the shorts. By 1982, MGM/UA Television began syndicating some individual cartoons to local stations to air them as they saw fit. This format did not contain the series' bumpers nor the laugh track. Most television stations aired the later package released in 1982, featuring the cartoon shorts by themselves, ostracized from the show's original bumpers sequences. The laugh track was also silenced on all entries expect for Misterjaw. Chicago-based WGN-TV was one of the few stations to air 1980 The Pink Panther Show syndication package. Conversely, New York City-based WPIX featured a stripped-down version of the shorts, airing the entries without the laugh track, bumpers, or theatrical opening/closing credits. The Pink Panther Show (1969–1970) and The New Pink Panther Show (1971–1974) has been remastered in its original format, and currently airs in its entirety (including bumpers and laugh track) on BBC Two in the United Kingdom. It was previously shown on UK Gold, BBC One and Boomerang. It also airs in Canada on Teletoon Retro weekday mornings at 8:00 AM. The laugh track is muted for most entries. A "no-frills" version aired on Boomerang five days a week at 5:30 AM, 10 AM and 2:30 PM; the Boomerang version included four shorts and no bumpers, in the style of its other theatrical-short compilation shows. Until August 2009, Boomerang only featured shorts from The Pink Panther, The Ant, and the Aardvark and The Inspector. The laugh track was present on several entries. Currently, the show remains intact on the Spanish Language Boomerang TV channel with most entries containing their original laugh track. The show also previously aired in its original format on This TV on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8:30 AM Eastern time (as part of its Cookie Jar Toons programming block) until September 22, 2011. To watch The Pink Panther Show Opening go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bii-PIGprv8 To watch The New Pink Panther Show Opening go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_Y27X0Qa0w